Recently, water treatment devices for activating water by means of magnetic force and electrons have been proposed. The fluid treatment device for fluid activation operates as follows. When the magnetic force and electrons are applied to water, clusters of water molecules are reduced in size and negatively charged to be rendered faintly alkaline, whereby water is activated.
As shown in FIG. 9, a conventional water treatment device 100 for activation, for example, includes a first permanent magnet 102 and a second permanent magnet 103 facing each other across a water conduit 101, and a pair of U-shaped yokes 104, 105 formed from a magnetic metal and encompassing these water conduit 101, first permanent magnet 102 and second permanent magnet 103. The paired yokes are accommodated in a casing not shown (see, for example Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-130251).
The paired yokes 104, 105 face each other on recessed sides thereof. Between the opposite ends of the first yoke 104 and the opposite ends of the second yoke 105, there is a predetermined gap X.
The first permanent magnet 102 has its south pole side bonded to an inside bottom of the first U-shaped yoke 104, while the second permanent magnet 103 has its north pole side bonded to an inside bottom of the second U-shaped yoke 105. Accordingly, the north pole of the first permanent magnet 102 and the south pole of the second permanent magnet 103 face each other across the water conduit 101. In addition, the south pole of the first permanent magnet 102 is transferred to the opposite ends 104a of the first U-shaped yoke 104 while the north pole of the second permanent magnet 103 is transferred to the opposite ends 105a of the second U-shaped yoke 105. The south poles and north poles thus transferred magnetically attract each other thereby forming a magnetic circuit for preventing magnetic flux lines 107 across the water conduit 101 from leaking out of the U-shaped yokes 104, 105.
A conductive metal layer 110 formed from a non-magnetic material such as copper extends along inside surfaces of the pair of U-shaped yokes 104, 105 as closing the aforementioned gaps X. The non-magnetic material has a higher potential than that of the magnetic metal forming the U-shaped yokes 104, 105.
According to the water treatment/activation device of the above constitution, water flowing through the water conduit 101 in a direction of an arrow 108 intersects with the magnetic flux lines 107 so as to be activated magnetically. In addition, the water intersecting with the magnetic flux lines 107 generates electromotive current in a direction perpendicular to the flowing direction of the water (direction of an arrow 109, for example) so that electrons are released in the water. Hence, the water can be electrochemically activated by the electrons thus released.
Particularly, the magnetic force released from the first permanent magnet 102 and the second permanent magnet 103 is biased toward the water conduit 101 by the conductive metal layer 110 so that the magnetic fluxes in the water conduit 101 is increased in density to promote the generation of the electromotive current. In addition, the conductive metal layer 110 has a higher potential than the magnetic metal forming the U-shaped yokes 104, 105. Hence, the potential of the conductive metal layer 110 is further increased by bimetallic cell action so that the electrons are released into the water more efficiently. Thus, the water treatment/activation device 100 is capable of activating water effectively.